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Calibre DESIGNrev Scripting

This class teaches students how to create custom Calibre DRV scripts and batch files that can be used to analyze and manipulate layout data. This class also teaches students how to extend the Calibre DRV GUI to obtain user input, display results from running DRV scripts, and add menus and menu items to invoke the scripts they write in class. The course presents a number of practical examples that demonstrate how DRV scripting can be leveraged to improve the chip design process.
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Classroom

Classroom Training

Full instructor-led courses in a Mentor training facility, with complete course materials and access to classroom computers.

Course Highlights

This class uses a task-based approach in which we present students with a series of common DRV coding tasks, then teach concepts and skills as needed to accomplish these tasks. Tasks have been suggested by Calibre field engineers based on user needs, and carefully selected to ensure that we teach the core concepts and skills needed to become proficient in the DRV coding environment.

For this course, the term DRV refers to a family of tools:

Calibre DESIGNrev

Calibre WORKbench

Calibre LITHOview

Calibre MDPview

You will learn how to

Set up an INFO utility for querying high-level design data.

Generate a high-level report to verify IP.

Write a procedure that will display the hierarchy of the design.

Swap cells.

Rename cells.

Merge a standard cell library into an existing design

Selectively update cell libraries

Save a portion of the open layout as a new layout.

Report reference counts using the most efficient method for a given situation.

Clean up designs that contain multiple copies of the same cell, each differing only in name.

Extract net information stored as text or properties.

Update the display to see layout modifications in the GUI.

Write a script to modify the selected object.

Add a menu item to the Macros menu.

Build user prompts to collect data from the user before evaluating a script.

Create a complete custom menu populated with commonly-used scripts.

Hands-on labs

Report the Design Hierarchy using a peek object.

Report the layers used in a layout.

Merge block level IP into an existing design.

Export a single-layer of your design for tapeout.

Re-write the script for creating a libcell array to use layout filemerge.

Write a batch file to produce a new layout displaying an array of all libcells used in the specified design.

Write a script that will copy selected objects to a new layer.

Use the File > Save Edit Transcript functionality in the viewer to gain insight into how the GUI implements design modifications.

Write a script that will move selected objects to a new layer.

Build your own library of utilities available off SupportNet and set up your environment to load it on invocation.

Building a custom toolbar menu.

Adding an option to the Macros menu to run layout filemerge -smartdiff on user-specified files, then display the results of merging.